Office



E BOARDI'VIAN. ELECTRICAL #EATING DEVICE.

APPLICATION HLED FEB. Z6. |920.

Reis-sued Ech. 22, 19217 E l vIn ven tor: by Fnkmwmn F. BOARMAN.

4ELECTRICAL HEATINGUEVICE.

APPLICATION HLED FEB.26,1920.

365155116@ Een 22, ML

,mm n v. mw .w y. mw W y n A To whom it may cof/worm.a

Unirse si" res PAT ol-FFICE- l umarmen :inerme Duuren 'Specification of Reissuetl Letters-atent. Reigsugd Feb, 22, 1921..

Original applicatonlilled July 13, 1916, Serial No. 105,061. Renewed. .Tilly 8, lBlSQSerial No.. 243,941 Original No. 1,294,67, aated February 18, 1919. implication for reissue nled February 2, 132m Serial No. 361,559..

Be it known that I,` Finnois BOARDMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing atNew State of ew York, have invented neiviand useful kIniproveniente in Electrical jleating Devices, of which the-following. isfaspeci ication.

This inventionxrelates t0 electrical heating devices and consists in an improved yconstruction and arrangement thereof v'def-- signed to 'facilitate their vinstallation ainder varying conditions o nse and particularly adapted to be used for melting-oi snow and" ice in the vicinity of railway switches7 mov! able point frogs and similar locations Where it is essential to prevent f reezingand the accumulation of snow and ice. ln their' latter use the devices of my invention areparticularly valuable .in reducing the cost oi maintaining the proper operation of rail ways during severe Winter Weather which,

' as is Well known, is a considerable and costly factor.

.An important featurel of the present invention consistsfin providing separable and portable heating units which mayv readily be assembled in positions in 'such'arrangement either multiple or series as required to proportion the resistance with relation to the'v'oltage of the service 'available at the locality of their use. To this end the heating units of my invention are preferably constructed in the :iorrnoi seliwontained watertight units wherein the heating coil is inclosed within a sealed casing and provided with suitable exteriorly. extended dividual units.

coupled up in multiple without interfering ysealed at the point of manufacture and are adapted to produce the required resistance by merely couplingup in the multiple 'ar-l rangement suted to their particularwlocation. f

Further ieatures oi my invention `consists the construction Aand organization cli-the, parts us hereinafter" shown whereby. the' heating coils are properly supported fand insulated Within the inclosing casing to per` mit of transporting-dief units Without-linnn age; in the arrangement Whereingtlie termiork andV nal Wires are so disposed that the cover may' 55 be removed to give access theretO'WithOiit interiering with the connections and With- Voutdanger of twisting the wires and also the accompanying drawing wherein the ret =ereiice numerals of thisdescription are applied to like parts in vthe several views.

.fzln thev drawing Figure l is a longitudinal `vsectional,viegivci? a desirable embodimentbi my iiivention. Fig. 2- is sa View iii side ele-- .vation illustrating a typical instaliationof my improved.heating units `and Fig. 3 is a plan vieyvthereoi.. Fig. 4. is a planK3 view of the heating unit oi Fig. 1. Figc 5 is a view-- iuend elevation Vwith the cover removed.

and Fig. 6 is a View similar to Fig. -1

unit.

in ln the approved embodiment of my invention as shown in Figs.. i, land 5 the heating coil or resistance l is inolosed WithiirJ suitable-casing El, which as here shown may desiraloly` be a section of cylindrical pipehaving its endsjclosed by screw caps o'r covers 3 and llthreaded to the pipe.' yThe heating coil .l as shown is wound upon a corru ated supporting tube 5 of porcelain:4

heating coil is formed of two spiral coils or sections reversely -w'ound Within suitable grooves in the tube 52 At one end the-sec! tions of the coil are connected trg-"terminal bolts 104-10" in the spacer block 9 andl the circuit is closed, betweenv thesebolts bf "rneansof aconnecting Wirejor. Spanner 1l` fit-the other end the ends of the coil sections are connected to .termnal bolts 12 supported are led into the ca'singthrough suitable pipe "connections-16 as shown.. Suitable clasp A "couplings or connectionsgl are .-at't'aehedto theends of the vvires lev and adapted'toin- 'unit-e,

ich

terlocli 'with .ennilarfconnectors ot adjacent 'is 7 illustrating ainodilied construct-ion of heaty As shown the'l bolt 6 is elongated at one end to receive the nuts 20-20 threaded thereon and a clamping plate 21 is fitted to vsistance and 'associated the -bolt and ,secured between thel nuts 20 as shown.- This clamping plate 21 is instru-l mental in securing the insulating-tube"re To this end the plateis theend of the casing 2 within the cap 4 whereby upon screwing the cap into the casing the parts will be secured arranged to engage 'to prevent longitudinal movement within the casing and consequent damage. This cap or cover 4 is provided with a terminal 22fora ground connection 23;

Av further feature o finy invention ccnsists in providing the heating units with a suitablevent 24 to permit the escape of air therefrom under the expansion caused by the heat. By means of the vent pipe shown,

the pressure is relieved and danger of impairlng the water-tightness of the units is overcome. The vent pipe may desirably extend upwardly merely sufficient to be :here a possible water level. As will be readily understood, the de scribed heating units may be tightly closed at the place of manufacture; the pipe connections being iilledwith a suitable waterproof 'compound rand the-threaded connec` tionsbeing suitablywaterproofed. At the place of installation the units may be coupled up in suitable multiple or series arrangement and placed in position for instance as shown in F igs..2 and 3. In the approved installation there shown thel units are merely placed in positionv between the -ties and partially embedded in the ballast.

As a result of this arrangement the units Will operate to heat'the' ballast and ground beneath thereby taking thefrost v.out of the ground so that the watercan blow off and the heat and steam risin from the heated ballast and units will me t the snow and ice from the metal structure. The described manner of heating has been found to be far more effective than the heating of the track structure proper as 'heretofore proposed.

It will thus be seen that my improved units may conveniently bel installed for no brackets or fixtures of any kind are required. Moreover, tached my units do not seriouslyinterfe're with the ordinary track Work,such as surfacing, lining, renewal of`ties, etc. These units may be readily installed in the fall and removed in the spring and may readily be varied to suit any particular form of electric current and adjusted to changes in current available and furthermore, the heating area may bemade larger or smaller at will vby merely suitable spacing of the units.

he heating current may be',controlled by a switch at anydesired location so that the heating means so afforded may be attended parts in position.

and to be inclosed by reason of their being so fde-` -to byanemployee having other duties lsuch Y"as signalman,. agent or operator thereby avoiding calling out of trackmen whose only dut would be to operate these switches.

The improvedform of sealed heating unit disclosedsuccessfully permits of their being installed in the desirable manner and location described and by reason ofthe arrangement of the lead-in connections permits of obtaining access. to the terminals by removing the cap 3 without disturbing the seal of the lead-in wilres.

In Fig. 6 I -have illustrated a modified form of sealed heating unit of my invention. rAsl'.

here' shown a single goil resistance 1 :is-,em-

ployed and is connected at one end by a conncctionl 26 to the rod 6 through which the circuit is completed'. The lead-in -wires are here passed through the cap 3 and attached:

respectively to' the c'oil'l and the end of the rod. vThey ends of 'the' casing are shown filled'with asbestos-fiber or other suitable insulatin material.

VVhileA have herein disclosedl a desirable embodiment of my invention it will be understood that it issubject to various modications lwithout departing from my invention. It is therefore intended that all matter contained herein shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having described my invention I claim l. A portable heating unit of the character described comprising a Water-tight protective casing, spacing members arranged therein, an insulating 'coilsupport c arried yby the spacing members, a heating coil surrounding the coil support, eXteriorlyv extending terminal wires connected with the heating coil and detachable coupling connections carried by the wires substantially as described.- 3

2. A portable heating unit of the character described comprising lan open ended cylindrical casing, spacing members fitted therepto, an insulating 'coil support carried by the spacing members, a heating coil surrounding the coil supi-port, terminal-:connections on the front spacing member accessible through the casing openings, exteriorly eX- tenders terminal wires connected to the terminally and passed through apertures `in the wall-v 'dythe casing adjacent the front end thereoffbaps' to seal 'the ends of the casing and means to .secure the parts from longitudinal movement substantially asv described.

3. A portable heating unit of the character described 'comprising an open ended cylindrical casing, spacing members fitted thereto, a supporting rod carried bythe spacing members, an insulating tube carried on said rod and provided with a grooved peripheral surface, a heating coil tted to the grooves, terminal connections on the front spacing member arranged to be acces- @uit which they are if of aftamdardzed portable lelw'f@ @www the casing, @bww supporing wd and and @f Jion 'j/ l longitudinal mi.'

e casing having a rebfaewsm and smd umts cec 1n plum?. serles m'- l ma mqued resistance Lm whlcl they me conlbeing,- saalr vided. W massime ng syskem for proand 'the like @0mmbe Mating units @tive Casing han# Qment therein, said ed spacing disle devices to be .plui'ai series uw ref-stance Value WLch hfffy an" ivd mi,I have sgnefivk my gedaan., 111 'the presentof sanqed units cnsiis'i having exteriwrly ammi said un- 

